Catnip
by mimi-chan04
Summary: "We." Katniss says, "As in Peeta and myself. I already told you right?" Whatever happened to Gale in District 2? Katniss wonders and decides to give him a phone call. But one word turns the conversation around. /Katniss and Gale aren't a couple here.


**So, yes. I have finished reading Mockingjay and am not ashamed to say that I actually cried more than five times while reading the book.**

**It was too much. Okay, I'm not going to spoil anything for any reader who hasn't read the last book yet.**

**So, here's my attempt at an addition to the ending since they never said anything about whatever happened to Gale and I am so concerned.**

**I really hope you like it. :) And no, this isn't an unrealistic fanfiction about how Katniss magically ends up in Gale's arms. Ashamed to turn the whole thing into something Twilight-y but I'm on the canon Peeta/Katniss ship though I have nothing against Gale/Katniss. They were really sweet too. They just didn't have enough time with each other. Well, that's what the story's about anyways. **

**Standard Disclaimers Apply. **

* * *

><p><em>Ring! Ring!<em>

The sound of a telephone ringing bounces off the white velvet walls of a spacious room.

_Ring! Ring!_

It sounds off again sending a certain dark-haired boy to groan due to the disturbance of his slumber.

_Ring! Ring!_

The third set of ringing causes the boy to jump from his bed, literally, with irritation as he walks over to the table holding the phone.

_Ring! Ri-_

"All right. All right." Gale says in annoyance as he picks up the phone and doesn't allow a fourth set of ringing to happen.

"Hello?" He greets the caller flatly.

"Hey." The voice of a certain girl surprises him and his passiveness is instantly replaced with genuine interest and happiness.

A smile quietly makes its way to his lips.

"Hey. What's up?" Gale says with a smile permanently glued to his face.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to come by." Katniss smiles with her hopes up.

"Of course!" Gale said almost instantly and with a lot more enthusiasm than he intended.

Katniss' laugh could be heard from the other line.

"Okay. Just drop by anytime." Katniss says,

"We'll be waiting for you." She adds.

Gale smiles but after a while his dose of happiness fades and Katniss's words slowly register into his brain.

"We?" Gale asks as his smile disappears.

"Uh... Yeah. I all ready told you right?" Katniss approaches the subject with caution.

"Right." Gale says in recognition to his thoughts and memory.

She had told him. That night he just got home from the welcoming in District 2. It had been announced that he would be their new military chief, not that there was really an immediate need for one. Either way nobody objected of course, not after that show he put on in the Capitol.

They people cheered, there was a dinner for him where the newly elected officials of District 2 were invited. They ate and drank and by dusk they all went home.

He was assigned a house at the Victor's Village and he found it nice enough. His family was assigned to another house since his house would mostly be used for gatherings and meetings.

At around 2 a.m. he was dropped off at his house and he dragged himself to the red velvet couch in front of the flat screen TV in the living room. He lay down buy stayed awake. His eyes wide open as thoughts of the night relieved him and another subject came to mind.

Katniss.

Whatever happened to her?

He honestly couldn't believe he was asking himself the question. When Katniss was sent to the hospital they wouldn't let him see her and when he was told that Katniss, Haymitch and Peeta were sent back to District 12 they didn't let him fly there. Paylor had instructed him to go to District 2. She was still busy arranging the new officials and the new rules, etc.

He was so disappointed he wanted to knock out the pilot, as he saw District 2 approaching, so he could direct the copter back to 12. But he couldn't. Even if it was Katniss. Then when he got to District 2 of course there was the merriment, he couldn't find time to excuse himself.

He considered running away and stealing the copter about a hundred times but he was heavily guarded. So, he could do no such thing.

He lay there as his gray eyes stared at the ceiling.

_Ring! Ring!_

He heard it. His telephone was ringing for the first time.

Gale walked over to the all-too-familiar contraption and picked it up.

"Hello?" He said curiously.

"Gale." He heard her name for the first time. And something bizarre happened. It wasn't like Gale at all to be over excited about something. He usually kept to himself, except with Katniss at times, and he never lets too much emotion leak out from him. But at that moment he felt his heart race and he wasn't comfortable with the feeling. He had never been like this with Katniss. Ever.

"Hey." He manages to coax out a decent word from his blocked throat.

"Hey." She repeated his words. Her voice sounded shaky, but happy.

"How are you?" Gale said with more concern than he intended. But he didn't mind.

"I'm... fine." Katniss said. Somehow, Gale felt like a smile placed itself on Katniss's lips.

"Sorry I haven't visited you since the... you know." Gale said. The incident with late President Coin was a bit unspeakable for those who actually had a bit of respect for her and regrettably, Gale was one of them.

"Yeah. It's okay." Katniss says in recognition. She wasn't one of those people who couldn't speak of President Coin's death. But she didn't want to make Gale feel uncomfortable.

"They wouldn't let me." Gale says a bit defensively, afraid that Katniss would think of some other explanation for his disappearance.

"Oh." Is all Katniss manages to say.

"I really wanted to though." Gale adds.

A few second of awkwardness passes the two.

"Did you want to tell me something?" Gale finally breaks the silence. Katniss wouldn't call him for no reason right?

"Oh yeah." Katniss' voice brightens as if she finally remembered something,

"It's... Peeta." She says. Two words that changed everything. She meant it like what she was going to say was about Peeta, but they were both smart enough to know what she actually meant.

She made her choice. It was her final decision.

Somewhere in his heart Gale was happy. He knew that this would happen, he considered it at least. He prepared himself for it but after all his preparations, it still hit him like a giant yellow school bus. It was Peeta. Not him. The realization finally sunk in. But he was happy, happy for Katniss. He knew how Peeta made her happy. How he made her smile. How he was the gentle breeze on a scorching summer day. The dandelion that blossoms in the midst of concrete. The firewood that controls how much the fire burns.

On the other hand, he felt dead. He died inside. He knew that it would be Peeta and Katniss. Forever. He knew that they would finally have something that he and Katniss would never be able to have. And for the first time in his life he appreciated the fact that he used to be the only guy in Katniss's life. But now he had to share her. No. Now she wasn't even his to share anymore.

"Of course." He managed to say calmly.

"What?" Katniss suddenly sounded anxious,

"What do you mean 'of course'?" She asks

"The way you kissed Peeta in the Quarter Quell." Gale started. His heart starting to slowly mend itself.

"What about it?" Katniss asked with tension in her words.

Gale smiled. It was a broken smile.

"You never kissed me like that." He said as he finally accepted the fact that Katniss would never be truly his.

"..." Silence was all he heard from the other line.

"What?" Katniss repeated the word now with softness and a hint of realization.

"You all ready loved him before you even knew." Gale laughed at Katniss's ignorance.

"But I love you too." She said.

Gale dropped his smile and faced reality.

"I know." He said.

"Katniss?" He called her as he heard sobs desperately trying to suppress themselves from the other line.

"I'll always love you, Gale. You're my best friend." Katniss said.

"You hate yourself right now don't you?" Gale said trying to lighten the mood.

Katniss laughs.

"You'll always know me better than anyone." Katniss said truthfully.

That was a fact that Gale could take credit for forever. Even Peeta couldn't take that away from him.

"I'll always be here Katniss." Gale stopped the jokes and said his words in gentle seriousness.

"I know." Katniss said,

"But he's the one I can't survive without." She adds after a little while, repeating his words that day under Tigris' shop.

Gale finds pleasure on a grin that placed itself on his lips.

"I know." He repeats her words.

"I'll see you soon." Gale steers the conversation to an end.

"I really hope so." Katniss said with her hopes up once again.

"Bye." Gale bids his best friend goodbye.

"Bye." Katniss repeats her best friend's words.

And at that the conversation ended and the telephone let out a beep.

Gale didn't know what to do. Honestly, he wasn't ready to lose Katniss yet. He still had a bit of fight left in him but now it was obviously useless. He collapsed back to his old position on the couch, this time closing his eyes and actually drifting away with Katniss's face plastered all over his dream.

"Are you still-" Katniss approaches with caution again.

"No." Gale smiles, his first genuine smile since Katniss gave him the news,

"I'll come by today." He confirms.

"Great." Katniss says with a happy smile.

"See you later, Catnip." Gale puts down the phone and it lets out a beep.

At that moment, he felt like his old self again. Like how he was before... everything. How he was with Katniss when she was still completely his. As a friend. When he was sixteen and her fourteen. He felt like the dark haired boy who spent almost every after school kissing another girl and feeling nothing for his hunting partner again. He felt like the hunter who viewed Katniss as nothing but his best friend and fellow hunter.

And finally, at that moment, he was able to place Katniss in that rightful place in his heart where she would be viewed as his most precious best friend and nothing more. Of course he would never be able to completely forget how he felt about her. But now his anger with Peeta vanished and was replaced by genuine happiness. For his friend. His best friend. His hunting partner. Katniss Everdeen.

"See you late, Gale." Katniss replies to air when she finally hears the beep indicating the disconnection of the person on the other line.

"I'll always love you." She whispers to herself. It was true. But she knew exactly how she meant it.

"I'll always love you." He says her words almost in sync. He knew exactly how he meant it too.


End file.
